Michael McElroy is Cardinal & Pine’s political correspondent. He is an adjunct instructor at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and a former editor at The New York Times.
Michael McElroy
Latest from Michael McElroy
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North Carolina will have three constitutional amendments on the ballot this fall. What are they?
Each could have an impact on voters, taxpayers, and property owners.
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Where Cooper and Whatley stand on rising costs and other issues
North Carolina’s 2026 US Senate election between former Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and Republican Michael Whatley could determine which party controls the US Senate next year. But what do they actually stand for?
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North Carolina keeps failing mothers and babies. Here’s how the March of Dimes makes a difference
We spoke with the March of Dimes’ director of maternal and infant health in North Carolina about what gives her hope in a state where childbirth is more dangerous than in most of the rest of the country.
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Trump’s war and tariffs ‘are killing’ NC farms, new report says
A report from Defend America Action shows that several Trump administration policies are straining already-strained farmers across NC and the rest of the country.
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4 years after Dobbs, abortion rights in NC could play big role in 2026 election
Economic concerns have dominated the 2026 midterm elections, but reproductive rights remain a huge issue, and the party divide in NC is just as stark as in the days after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
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Trump is dragging NC Republicans underwater, poll shows
Democrat Roy Cooper has a 14-point lead over Republican Michael Whatley in NC’s US Senate race, a new Catawba College poll shows, as two-thirds of independent voters in the state disapprove of President Trump.
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Screwworms are vampire zombie monsters, but experts say NC doesn’t have to worry yet
Screwworms feed on living flesh, and though NC State experts told Cardinal & Pine that an outbreak here is unlikely, you might want to finish your lunch before reading why.
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Whatley backs Trump’s $1.8 billion fund that could give cash to Jan. 6 rioters
Though several congressional Republicans resisted the Trump administration’s efforts to pay supporters who had been convicted of crimes, Republican Michael Whatley has embraced them.
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Trump may dismiss rising costs, but they’re playing huge roles in the 2026 election
The president says he never thinks about how the Iran war is affecting household budgets, but the issue is top of the mind for North Carolinians ahead of the 2026 midterms.
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NC House boosts private school vouchers in override of Gov. Stein’s veto
Two former Democrats voted with Republicans to help provide federal tax credits to anyone donating to private school scholarship funds.
